2012 was a disaster. I started my business in 2009 but in 2011 we had the Brisbane floods and business went quiet. Then in 2012, 17,000 jobs and all training was cut from the public service for almost two years. 80% of my contracts were with government departments.

If you’ve ever seen an Angostura Bitters bottle with its oversized white label, you’ll know it’s pretty distinctive. But many people don’t know the story behind the bottle’s appearance. And it’s a story worth telling, one that highlights the importance of embracing your uniqueness.

I have an amazing friend, Kali Gray. She’s a ‘non-diet’ dietician. She helps her clients feel good and have more energy through better nutrition, self-care and wellbeing. As you can imagine, eating healthily is a big part of Kali’s brand.

Sarah came to me because she had a problem. She had a successful business that was past its infancy and ready for a strong growth phase. She had a small, but dedicated team behind her.

It might sound a bit odd, but I cut back on anything that would generate too many new enquiries, such as videos, speaking events, travel and client load. I started to assess some bigger questions so I could create a life by design.

One of my favourite places in the world is Cape Byron Lighthouse at Byron Bay. I have fond memories of climbing up to the lighthouse with my sisters and cousins on weekends to take in the view over the New South Wales coast, at Australia’s most easterly point.

Are you overwhelmed with where to start with your marketing and lead generation activity? Trying to identify the right mix of LinkedIn, social media, content creation, newsletters, webcasts and podcasting without losing money?

Content Creation

The year 2000 was an exciting year. Sydney hosted the Olympics, businesses were frantically getting ready for the millennium bug and I started a new job.

When I was 15, my favourite subject at school was French. I desperately wanted to live as an exchange student in France, but mum and dad said no as it was too expensive. So, I decided to get a casual job to pay for it myself.

I was recently speaking to Grace, a communications consultant who was frustrated that she couldn’t motivate her leaders to create content. She always had to come up with the ideas and hand the content to them on a silver platter.

So when I’m working with people, one of the first questions I ask is – who are the people that you need to be selling to? How many of those people have already bought from you? And what do you do to remain connected to them?

Earlier this year I got engaged, which was a lovely celebration. During our holidays, we took some time to have a look at some potential venues and decided to go and have a look at a venue in the Gold Coast that I had been thinking about for some time.

In 1973, Erica Jong wrote a book called, Fear of Flying. It was a novel famously controversial for its attitudes towards female sexuality and was featured prominently in the second wave of feminism. It sold 20 million copies worldwide, and she went on to write another 10 fiction books, 7 non-fiction books and a series of anthologies and poetry.

I first started writing copy for newsletters, websites and social media 10 years ago – but I had one big fear. My fear was the dreaded unsubscribe button; that people would stop reading what I had to share.

One of the things that hold people back from their expert to influencer journey is removing creative blocks. We often have all this knowledge bubbling away in our heads, but the only way you’ll see yourself shifting from being an expert to an influencer is by sharing your knowledge and ideas.

Being at the right place at the right time builds trust and can be life-changing for your customers and teams. Dutch visual artist Berndnaut Smilde is best known for creating perfect miniature clouds in unusual locations from coal mines to cathedrals.